simpatico
Gold Member
I searched for a Steam Deck general and didn't find anything. Maybe this can turn into that. I'm happy to edit the OP as good tips n' tricks roll in.
I got blindsided with a Steam Deck gift yesterday and I'm woefully unprepared. I don't think I've received a gift of significant value since the launch window era Sega Dreamcast. So I'm getting my head around this from an emotional and technical standpoint.
I'll start with some impressions of handheld as a medium. I bought PSP at launch. Enthusiastically. That was the height of my pre-parenting disposable income, interest in Playstation as a brand and overall dedication to console gaming as a hobby. I bought as Gucci of a PSP setup as was available. It just never truly clicked. I'm a man who owned a library of UMD movies, so it was not for lack of effort.
I'm not saying I hated it at all. This is what it all boils down to: I was never able to have a fully immersed experience where I played a "real" game start to finish. By "real" game I mean something like a full-fledged Metal Gear or Resident Evil game. Played a lot of little side piece puzzle games or arcade games and that was cool. But I was really hoping PSP would be the one to offer that sitting down "Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater played for the first time at release" experience.
Bought into 3DS but at that point I was a new father and never would have found the time for something beyond my PS36ii.
Played around a bunch last night and I see big potential. Just as a medium for games it's very interesting. I saw detail in Hollow Knight and Blasphemous that was getting lost even at monitor viewing distance. Certainly possible I just don't have the best eyes, but either way there is a novel aspect here and it's been a looooooooong ass time since I've had anything novel injected into my gaming workflow.
I'm really here to grouse and look for some relief on a few quirks. The main one is the shoulder buttons. I don't know if I have a bad unit or if it's something widespread and known, but I really have to hit the shoulder buttons on this thing just right to make them register. Is there a sensitivity setting I can adjust? What I'd really like to do from an ergonomic perspective is remap L1 and R1 to L4 and R4. Is there a way I can do this system wide? Really curious about this one as I'd love to use the track pad as the right analog stick as well.
What other stuff should I be doing with the Deck? Just as far as housekeeping type items. I'm really loving this thing way more than I ever expected I would. I didn't really have any intentions of buying one, but I'd also never seen one in the flesh. Game recommendations are welcome too! I'm looking for a racing game. Forza Horizon has a massive file size and apparently has CTD problems. But something of that ilk would be perfect.
I got blindsided with a Steam Deck gift yesterday and I'm woefully unprepared. I don't think I've received a gift of significant value since the launch window era Sega Dreamcast. So I'm getting my head around this from an emotional and technical standpoint.
I'll start with some impressions of handheld as a medium. I bought PSP at launch. Enthusiastically. That was the height of my pre-parenting disposable income, interest in Playstation as a brand and overall dedication to console gaming as a hobby. I bought as Gucci of a PSP setup as was available. It just never truly clicked. I'm a man who owned a library of UMD movies, so it was not for lack of effort.
I'm not saying I hated it at all. This is what it all boils down to: I was never able to have a fully immersed experience where I played a "real" game start to finish. By "real" game I mean something like a full-fledged Metal Gear or Resident Evil game. Played a lot of little side piece puzzle games or arcade games and that was cool. But I was really hoping PSP would be the one to offer that sitting down "Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater played for the first time at release" experience.
Bought into 3DS but at that point I was a new father and never would have found the time for something beyond my PS36ii.
Played around a bunch last night and I see big potential. Just as a medium for games it's very interesting. I saw detail in Hollow Knight and Blasphemous that was getting lost even at monitor viewing distance. Certainly possible I just don't have the best eyes, but either way there is a novel aspect here and it's been a looooooooong ass time since I've had anything novel injected into my gaming workflow.
I'm really here to grouse and look for some relief on a few quirks. The main one is the shoulder buttons. I don't know if I have a bad unit or if it's something widespread and known, but I really have to hit the shoulder buttons on this thing just right to make them register. Is there a sensitivity setting I can adjust? What I'd really like to do from an ergonomic perspective is remap L1 and R1 to L4 and R4. Is there a way I can do this system wide? Really curious about this one as I'd love to use the track pad as the right analog stick as well.
What other stuff should I be doing with the Deck? Just as far as housekeeping type items. I'm really loving this thing way more than I ever expected I would. I didn't really have any intentions of buying one, but I'd also never seen one in the flesh. Game recommendations are welcome too! I'm looking for a racing game. Forza Horizon has a massive file size and apparently has CTD problems. But something of that ilk would be perfect.
